2D Sketch blocks for logos, markings and symbols.

Thomas_Pearson

2D Sketch blocks seems like a relatively simple feature which would be incredibly valuable for adding logos, symbols or marking's on to parts. Often have to import .dxf's of customer logos or CE markings onto products, I could spend an eternity adding constraints and dimensions to the imported sketch lines but if decide I want to scale it slightly all the dimensions disappear, so I end up leaving it unconstrained and just eyeballing the size position with the transform tool. If we had sketch blocks, I could easily scale and position to specific dimensions in a couple of seconds. 

S1mon

When you import a DXF, you can scale the whole thing exactly with the first dimension you add. Once you do that, you can use the sketch transform tool to move it where you want.

For more control and robustness, what I've also done is create a part studio that I keep in a common project with our corporate logo. I dimensioned and scaled the logo so that it's 10mm high nominally, and extruded the sketch to create a part. The word mark (UNAGI) is added to a single part which includes the amount of whitespace around it that is supposed to be there normally. I added a bunch of mate connectors at key points so that I can use them as the reference point depending on design intent. I then use the Point Derive FeatureScript to add the logo to other parts exactly where I need it, use a regular Transform/Scale feature to size the logo part correctly, and finally I sketch what ever feature I need in the driven part by "Use edge" on the faces of the letters in the logo part. At some level this is more convoluted than sketch blocks are in Solidworks, but it gives me the opportunity to position and scale a graphical thing in a very parametric way.

If you don't need to keep a logo super parametric, you can just copy/paste a sketch, and use the add a single dimension to scale trick.

S1mon

It's also possible to Derive (or Point derive) just a sketch into another part. You can't directly scale the sketch, but if you're willing to make a composite curve from the sketch edges, you can transform/scale that.